Door lock switch mechanisms in existing electrical appliances (such as washing machines) have an unlocked and a locked position. Door lock switches of electrical appliances (such as washing machines) require that in certain circumstances (such as when the door lock switch control breaks down or when a sudden power cut occurs during operation of the electrical appliance), the door lock switch mechanism in the locked position is moved manually to the unlocked position, in order to open the door of the electrical appliance (e.g. washing machine).
Since existing door lock switches with a single-electromagnet structure incorporate a “push-push mechanism”, once a user has pulled the manual release mechanism to push the door lock switch mechanism from the locked position to the unlocked position, if the user pulls the manual release mechanism a second time, to push the door lock switch mechanism, the door lock switch mechanism will return to the locked position from the unlocked position; if at this point the user pulls the manual release mechanism a third time, to push the door lock switch mechanism, the door lock switch mechanism will move from the locked position to the unlocked position again; if at this point the user pulls the manual release mechanism a fourth time, to push the door lock switch mechanism, the door lock switch mechanism will return to the locked position from the unlocked position again; and thus the cycle is repeated.
Although existing door lock switch mechanisms and door lock manual release mechanisms are able to satisfy the operational demands of electrical appliances (such as washing machines), the way in which they operate sometimes causes confusion and inconvenience in operation or assembly.
Thus, there is a need to provide an improved door lock switch mechanism and door lock manual release mechanism, such that once the door lock switch mechanism has moved from the locked position to the unlocked position, further pulling of the door lock manual release mechanism by the user will have no effect on the door lock switch mechanism.